Prepper Handbook Blog

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Investing for Preppers

Throughout history, silver (followed by gold), has been the most common form of stable currency, while paper money has failed to hold its value.

Countries and governments have typically lasted several centuries before experiencing an invasion, revolution, and/or economic and social break down; upon which their paper currency becomes worthless. Read about hyperinflation on Wikipedia. For this reason, and because precious metals have value that survives the test of time, they can be a good investment.

But let me be clear that I am NOT a financial adviser & I do not sell silver. However, in my unprofessional opinion, having a small percentage of your wealth in precious metals like silver (my favorite) is a good idea. Old silver coins or the US Silver Eagle 1 oz silver dollar will always be a recognized and valued currency and therefore a good one to have. Pennies prior to 1982 contain about 2 to 3 cents worth of copper and might be good to save.

Silver prices are at a 5-year low as we enter 2015, perhaps making it a good time to buy. Keep a few sliver coins in your home as well as some paper cash for those times when electricity or the teller machines and credit card scanners are not working.

In addition to coinage, barter has been a key part of economic trade. Having sustainable goods that would be needed during hard times might also make a good investment in a worst-case scenario type event. See the Top 10 Barter Goods.

Now some might say that silver is not a good investment… that I bought some back in 1960 at $7.00 per ounce and it is only worth $15 per ounce today, and that would be a correct statement. However, let’s look at an alternative currency that we all use, the US paper dollar. In 1964, when the US minted the last 90% silver coins, a US dollar could buy the following:

2 pounds of roast
a 3.5 lb chicken
27 oranges
30 lbs of potatoes
3 lbs of bacon
4 gallons of gas

But today, the same US paper dollar buys:

3 ounces of roast

4 ounces of chicken

2 oranges

2.5 lbs of potatoes

3 ounces of bacon

1/3 gallon of gas

Making our dollar worth about 1/15^th what it was or 7 cents on average compared to 1964, while our silver dollar at a 5-year low value will still buy essentially the same goods that it and the paper dollar did in 1964. Now which is the better investment? Silver Eagles make good gifts too.

Think about this: The 401k savings plan was created hoping to supplement the failing Social Security (SS) system. With Americans having their own savings, the drastic cuts needed to save SS will not be quite as devastating. The sudden move by millions of people to invest 401k money led to prosperous times for the stock market. But what will happen when Baby Boomers stop putting their huge amounts of money in to the stock market and start taking it out instead and moving it to FDIC insured investments? At this same time they stop paying into SS and start drawing money out. There are fewer and fewer workers to support the unfunded SS debt. With the mass printing of US dollars they will become worth much less. Inflation will soar. The government may move to an electronic currency instead of paper so the slow printing presses are no longer a bottleneck to expanding their money supply. More money supply leads to higher inflation. The potential for the most devastating recession in history could be ahead....CRASH!

This will also give the government control over all trade, prices, pay, taxes, States funds, etc. with the ability to seize or freeze funds quickly. Barter and black markets will grow but be highly illegal.

For more information, see the Prepper Handbook preview on Amazon. If you don't have a Kindle, you can down load their free reader to your computer to buy and read the whole book.

JR

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Beginners:

Beginner Prepper List

The Rule of 3 (set priorities by this)

US Government Recommended Preparations

Why we are ALL Preppers (for skeptics)

Investing for Preppers

Advanced Prepper Resource

Prepper Handbook Table of Contents

Oath Keepers, true protectors of freedom

Group Security Drills

Bees for Prepping

Food and water:

Building your food stores the right way

Getting Started (Water)

Green House for year-round food supply

Prepper Handbook

Gardening101 – Soil Basics

Best Prepper Chicken Breed

Bees for Prepping

Edible Wild Plants:

Chickweed & Hackberries

Natural Disaster Preparations

Natural & Man Made Disaster Preparations

Hurricanes

Firearms and security:

NRA Gun Safety Rules

Beginner Prepper List

Survival Pack

Passive Layered Security

Night Vision

Red flag warnings its time to Bug Out

Bug Out Warning

Investing for Preppers (Financial Security)

The Best Gun

Group Security Drills

Urban Survival Perspective

Urban Survival Plan

Shelter:

Concrete Bunker Plans

Solar Power System

Wilderness Survival:

Survival Pack (Security Patrol or Bug Out pack)

Wilderness Survival Pack (Video)

Wilderness Survival

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Building your food stores the right way

The first question to answer, is how much do I need? The answer varies based on how long you want to be prepared for. There are various levels as covered in the "Incremental Prepper Plan" in the Prepper Handbook by JR Ray that help answer the how long question. In this post, we will talk about a logical approach to building your food stores.

Your first level is to start out buying a few extra of your usual can goods each time you go shopping, especially those with long shelf lives like canned salmon or tuna, but also vegetables and pasta. There are some good storage systems discussed in the Prepper Handbook with a sample shown below.

This system can be used to store and rotate your common vegetables, soups, and long shelf life canned foods.

A good stocking strategy needs to consider your consumption and the shelf life of the particular food. For example, suppose you eat on average one can of corn every week. That is 52 cans per year that you would be expected to consume. Now also suppose that the shelf life or expiration date is 2 years out. That would mean that the most you could keep would be up to 52 weeks x 2 years = 104 cans in stock which would be a 2-year supply.

I might start out with an initial goal of 13 to 26 extra cans, which is 3 to 6 months supply. Then after many of your other needs are in place you can ramp up your target to 52 cans which is a year supply. Our incremental strategy needs to be used in many places since no one has unlimited money to go out and buy a ton of supplies.

Second, I strongly suggest you get some long-term (25-year +) storage foods, which are kept at more than one location. The Prepper Handbook provides a “Calculator” where you can determine your food needs. Then once you review / edit your foods, you can put them in a “Q” that allows you to set up a budget and get say $50 per month shipped to you. Rice, Beans & Wheat are the lowest cost foods. Make this your secondary food store behind having your pantry full of the canned foods you normally eat. A basic 90 supply of food for one person costs less than $200 as shown below.

1 Beans, 1 Rice, & 1 Oat pails = 90 days of food for one person with a little gardening, foraging &/or hunting.

2 Beans, 2 Rice, & 2 Oat cans = 21 days of food for one person with a little gardening, foraging &/or hunting.

For more information on this, you can e-mail us at: PrepperHandbook2014@gmail.com and we can set you up to get your budgeted amount of food stores, foods that you select, sent to you each month.

The last stage of your food stores plan is to have gardening, livestock, and a sustainable food plan as outlined in the Prepper Handbook

You need enough can goods and food in your pantry to last a minimum of 2 weeks, and preferably 60 days. Then when your other important preparations are covered as outlined in the Incremental Prepper Plan, you need to expand your food stores to last 6 to 12 months. This gives you time to expand your garden and grow your own food.

At this point, you would need to be gardening and have food preservation supplies and skills in place to survive year after year as a part of a sustainable living style. Then you are truly prepared for a worst-case scenario, at least with regard to food supplies.

Of course, there are many other needs to consider. When planning, remember:

The Rule of 3 - you can die in:

a. 3 seconds without security

b. 3 minutes without air;

c. 3 hours without shelter (in hostile weather);

d. 3 days without water &

e. 3 weeks without food.

So in reality, food is the last part of a solid survival plan. The Prepper Handbook has an Incremental Prepper Strategy to guide you through prioritizing, organizing, and developing your preparations over time and within a budget.

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Beginners:

Beginner Prepper List

The Rule of 3 (set priorities by this)

US Government Recommended Preparations

Why we are ALL Preppers (for skeptics)

Investing for Preppers

Advanced Prepper Resource

Prepper Handbook Table of Contents

Oath Keepers, true protectors of freedom

Group Security Drills